drxym

Okay, I'm not a big fan of TV movies, but I thought that Timothy Daly's performance in this effort was magnetic and the script was above par. Watching as Koresh rants, raves and twists the bible's message to his captive audience really gives you an idea how he may have lead people to follow him to their doom. If there is a weakness with the film, it is that it portrays the various government agencies as well meaning but two-dimensional wholesome boobs. I find it laughable that other reviewers think this film is fascist - both sides are portrayed rather favorably with the exception of Koresh. If the film has any message, it is that if you're a member of a heavily armed and whacked out cult with a megalomaniac pedophile for a leader, it is no surprise to anybody if you bring "armageddon" down on yourself. The Branch Davidians discovered the hard way and frankly if they were stupid enough shoot back at the feds then they got what they deserved.

I also found the film ends rather abruptly after the feds gathered their dead from the initial raid. Perhaps the production thought that was the best place to cut the movie and rush it out to TV as soon as possible. Even if that is their reasoning, the ending is disjointed and misses some of the drama that could have been captured from the ensuing siege.

The plot of this film and Jar Jar Binks have been mercilessly parodied and its not hard to see why.

This film really does have one of the most boring plots. The framework for this movie is a trade federation blockade and politics of a galactic senate. Great. Within this framework we have a couple of Jedi occasionally hacking their way through various CG robots, some *extremely* irritating and unconvincing CG characters, a rather good but overlong pod race in the middle and a dull denouement where yet more CG characters fight CG robots inter-cut with the Jedis fighting a baddie called Darth Maul. CG is okay in doses, but it does not make up for a saggy plot or other deficiencies.

Darth Maul is the most interesting thing about the film and he is woefully underused. Aside from being a bad ass fighter, we have no better clue who he is or what he wants. Recall previous Star Wars where the duels were accompanied by a duel of words - Obi Wan Kenobi squaring up to Vader, or Vader vs Luke Skywalker. The words were as interesting as the fighting itself and I bet most fans can recall them. The Jedis and Darth Maul size each other up, and fight in near silence. What a waste. As someone wrote for Slate (if I recall), why not use the opportunity for Maul to expound his beliefs and perhaps even semi-convince the "maverick" Jedi played by Liam Neeson of what he is trying to do.

Aside from this, not much else sticks in the mind. The acting is universally wooden, thanks no doubt to the amount of CG filling each scene - "Mr Neeson stand in front of this green screen and say your lines to the tennis ball on a stick. We'll fill in who you're talking to and the space port you're standing in later.". The child actor playing Annakin is irritating, and the CG Jar Jar is even more so.

I have to say that Attack of the Clones went some way to mitigate the annoying Jar Jar by making him the tragic instigator of the Clone Wars. But if ever Lucas ever re-cuts these films (as he is wont to do when his bank balance dips below several billion), he should re-voice this annoying creation and give him half as much to say.

Obviously the writers of this mulch had this brief - "Imagine Apollo 13 but on the shuttle with a sexy imperiled crew trying to get back to earth". If this sounds stupid, that is because it is.

Throw in some dreadful special effects, a low budget, a total disregard for reality & physics and a plot which consists of one over the top crisis after the next and a happy ending. The actors however do make the best of a bad situation, but this one is a total dud.